Just finished. Apparently I spent 175 hours in this including expedtion! I think I spent like $20 for the pair. Good value for sure. I remember my first impression was that it was just OK. I after nearing the end of everything I could do around South Gate Station before the train was unblocked I figured the game was almost over. It felt like it was a mediocre experience fighting some rathounds and slightly more interesting in Junkyard. I still felt that classic Fallout/Fallout 2 were a little more fun, and something was kind of missing. Then I realized that yes those rocks around the caves can actually be breached. Then I found all kinds of hidden areas I hadn't seen before. I hand't seen the entrance into foundry and though that the one area at the front was it. I had completely missed rail crossing location. Then I got to core city and there was such a massive amount of content there there was much more diverse and interesting than previous stages. Then having the side quest with "Dude" was epic and hysterically funny and at that point I began to love the game. By this time I considered this game superior to classic fallout games that are some of my favourites of all time. Then I started into Expedition expansion and it adds a pretty massive amount of areas and quests (including aforementioned "Dude"), and blown away by just how massive this game is, and each stage keeps introducing new and interesting elements. Frustrations? For sure. There are a number of situations where game balance just doesn't seem fair or features seem introduced merely to annoy you. However, the solution is almost always to just go away and do other quests until you are high enough level. By late game, you will feel much more in control. I did a stealth sniper with psionic (metathermics), and not much else mattered. Aimed Shot/Snipe/Stealth, combined with frozen psi ability could manage most combat challenges.
*Visually I find the art style very cool. A massive improvement over the original Planescape. Its still isometric turn based game, but that gives you time to savour the dialogue and take your time with things as the game is clearly meant to be experienced. At its heart its a point and click choose your own adventure graphic novel, but its so unique and fascinating... *The wall-of-text for all the numenera and characters must have had a huge amount of work going into it, and its pretty well done. Perhaps after a while some of starts to wear thin in some places, but nothing immersion-breaking. I especially like the "Merecaster" experiences. It feels unique and a suitable succession to the original. *The battle mechanic was actually kind of interesting and in my opinion well done. Its a little odd, but totally intuitive and after getting used to it, I kind of like it. Its certainly a refreshing change from the tired D&D mechanics of the original. Was the game really about combat anyway? *Philosophically, there are some complex themes here, but this is where the original Planescape definitely outshines Tides of Numenera since the balance of choices here never seemed to matter as much and I never really felt challenged by the conflicting ideas as much as in the original. *The game length at first feels short, but after reflection is probably about right. Especially considering the replay to explore some different choices. This was one part I never liked about the original Planescape. Once I beat it the first time and all was revealed, there wasn't much left to discover. In here, I think it was a little more satisfying resolution and better replayability though I can't imagine playing it more than twice. OVERALL I would say this was pretty well done, and is a game that stands up pretty well against the original. If I had to choose to replay one of the games again, my preference would probably lean towards this one. (Sorry Morte!)
